


The Nightmare Scenario

by GlowingArrowsInTheSky



Series: But the Earth Refused to Die [5]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grouptale (Undertale), Family, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, No Incest, Sibling Bonding, just wanted to write a little something nice, the fact i have to tag that is ridiculous, this is a short one fam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 15:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15609660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlowingArrowsInTheSky/pseuds/GlowingArrowsInTheSky
Summary: Basically what the title implies. Just wanted to write something soft for my sweet children. Fight me.





	The Nightmare Scenario

Hop woke with a gasp, shooting up straight in their bed as their chest heaved with ragged breaths. Their cheeks were damp with unexpected tears and the back of their neck was sticky with sweat. Closing their eyes, Hop tried to settle themself down; but whenever they closed their eyes, the nightmare they’d just woken from flashed through their mind again.

_Their leg on fire. The feeling of a determined triton splitting through bone. All of their family dying. The realization that they would soon be-_

They snapped their eyes open, shoving the nightmare aware to the back corner of their mind. Flopping back against the pillows, Hop stared at the ceiling and tried to will themself back to sleep.

It didn’t work.

Hop could feel exhaustion bruising around their eyes, but still nothing. Sighing and turning on their side, Hop resigned themself to a night lying awake in silent terror at the painful memories they wish they could erase like so many save files.

They were just beginning to contemplate sneaking downstairs to the living room and watching some television, when they heard muffled sobs coming from across the room where Twain was asleep. At least, Hop had thought their sibling was asleep; but as Hop sat up again and sharpened their focused, they noticed now that the lump of blankets on Twain’s bed had a faint glow coming from under them.

Tossing their covers back, Hop put their one foot down on the ground and set their hands against the mattress to keep their balance as they hopped towards their sibling’s bed. At another time, Hop would have appreciated the fact that they, Hop, were _hopping_ ; but at the current moment, they couldn’t seem to find the humor in the situation at all.

Hop made their way to Twain’s bedside as quickly as they could manage. Reaching out, they tapped at where they thought their sibling’s shoulder was in the mound of blankets. Twain’s startled gasp sounded from under the covers and soon their startled face followed as they threw off the blankets and looked up at Hop.

“Hop!” they exclaimed in a hushed voice. “What are you doing up?”

Twain had a small video game clutched in their hand, and the glow of the screen caused the tears running down their cheeks to shine. Hop noticed immediately and gave their sibling a sympathetic smile. Twain saw where they were looking and turned off their game, wiping at their face in embarrassment.

Hop didn’t mention the tears, just sat down on Twain’s bed with a sigh. “I couldn’t sleep. I had a nightmare.”

“Oh?” Twain’s voice was soft in the darkness. There was a brief silence before Twain spoke again. “Me too,” they said, voice even softer than before.

“What was yours?” Hop asked, drawing their knees up to their chest and looking out at the night sky visible from their bedroom windows.

Twain hesitated to speak again, making an uncertain noise before speaking. “Losing you guys,” they said. “The fight with Asgore...being a part of Flowey when he was, you know, killing Frisk all those times…What about you?”

“Yeah, sort of the same,” Hop said, their hand trailing down to the stump that started midway through their shin. “My leg getting cut off was thrown in there, too. Not, uh- Not really something all that fun to remember.”  

“I’m sorry, Hop,” Twain said, their hand reaching out to squeeze Hop’s arm. “It’s not fair you’re the only one who lost something permanently from that fight.”

“Don’t be stupid, we all lost something. Mine is just the easiest to see,” Hop said. Then, regretting their harsh tone, they backtracked a little. “I’m sorry, Twain, you’re not stupid.”

“I know,” Twain nodded, patting Hop’s arm again. Taking a shaky breath, Twain looked over their shoulder at the bedroom door. “Hey, Hop?”

“Hm?” Hop murmured, still staring out the window. They were thinking about how much they’d love for their oldest sibling to be there with them.

“Would I be a total baby if I said I kind of just want to go ask to sleep in Robin’s bed with them for tonight?” Twain asked.

Hop finally turned to look at Twain again. “I was literally just thinking the same thing,” they said.

Twain gave a little laugh, but it was hedged with nerves. “Do you wanna go?”

“Yeah, just, can you help me walk?”

“Of course,” Twain replied.

The two rose from Twain’s bed and - with Hop’s arm around Twain’s shoulders - headed out into the dark hallway. It was slow going as they tried to make it to Robin’s room without making too much noise. The last thing either of them wanted was to wake their other siblings or Toriel up and create more of a scene than was necessary. But by and by, the two of them made it to their oldest sibling’s bedroom door. Turning the knob, Twain pushed the door open as quietly as they possibly could.

Robin was sound asleep, a peaceful expression on their kind face as Twain and Hop tiptoed to the side of their bed. Their long orange hair was fanned out around them, shining in the moonlight that fell through their window. Twain almost hated to wake them up, and hesitated to reach out and shake their older sibling.

Hop, however, had no such hesitation and reached out with an urgent jab of their finger and poked Robin in the shoulder.

Robin’s amber eyes blinked open in a flutter of surprise, and they sat up with a start. Balancing themself on one elbow, Robin reached across to their bedside table and yanked on a lamp cord, casting the room in a warm yellow light. At the sight of their younger siblings, Robin’s face relaxed momentarily before furrowing into deeper concern and confusion.

“Hop? Twain? What’s the matter?” they asked, their voice croaking with fatigue.

Twain avoided eye contact, looking down at their toes. “We...um…”

“We had nightmares,” Hop said, voice quiet yet matter-of-fact. “Can we sleep with you tonight?”

“Yeah, of course you can,” Robin said immediately, throwing back their covers and motioning their two siblings over. “Get in here.”

Hop was the first to crawl in, Twain helping them keep their balance. Twain climbed in on the other side, and Robin pulled the covers back up over all three of them. Hop and Twain immediately snuggled right up to Robin, who wrapped an arm around each of them and squeezed them tightly once before settling down into the pillows.

“Hop, you wanna get the light for me? Or do you guys want to leave it on?” Robin asked, stifling a yawn.

“I’m fine with it off. Twain?” Hop asked.

“Uhm…” Twain paused, their face half hidden against Robin’s side. “Is it okay if we leave it on for now?”

“Okay with me,” Robin said.

“Me too,” Hop said, nuzzling their cheek against the soft blue linen of Robin’s pajamas.

“You know, I remember the first time I met both of you,” Robin said, their voice soft and comforting and everything right with the world. “Twain, you were a sweetheart from day one. I could tell from the start that you had a special way of understanding people’s feelings.”

Twain smiled. “I remember thinking you were the nicest person I’d ever met,” they said softly.

“What about me?” Hop asked. “What’d you think about me?”

“I thought…” Robin broke off with a fond laugh, messing up Hop’s unruly hair a little bit more with a smile. “I thought you were quite a little hellion. But you made me laugh harder than I had in years. That’s how I knew.”

“Knew what?” Hop asked.

“Knew that you were a good kid with a big heart,” Robin said. “Both of you are.”

The three of them were quiet for a little while, not really falling asleep but settling into a calm lull.

“Robin?” Twain’s voice broke the silence.

“Yes?” Robin opened their eyes and looked at their sibling.

“Do you ever wish it had never happened?” Twain asked. “Do you ever...Do you ever wish that we had just stayed with Toriel in the Ruins?”

Robin thought about their answer for a minute before smiling kindly down at Twain, giving their shoulder a comforting rub.

“Well, I can’t say that I don’t often miss our good old times in the Ruins,” Robin said. “Things are a little more complicated on the surface, and we aren’t always all together all the time. But no, I don’t wish that we’d never left.”

“Why not?” Hop asked, latching onto Twain’s question. “If we had stayed we wouldn’t have- None of us would’ve gotten hurt.”

“Maybe that’s true,” Robin said, giving Hop a pat on the arm as well. “But we wouldn’t have broken the Barrier, either. We wouldn’t have met all of our great new friends. We wouldn’t have done anything except stay right where we were.”

“Doesn’t thinking about what happened ever make you scared, though?” Twain asked. “Sometimes it’s all I can think about.”

“I do get scared. I even have nightmares too sometimes,” Robin said. “But then I remember that despite all of the bad things that happened to us in the underground, we all made it. We’re all still here. And I think about all of the monsters we set free, and that makes me feel really good about everything we did to make that happen.”

“I didn’t really think about it like that,” Twain said.

“Yeah, me either,” Hop nodded, rubbing their eyes with a yawn.

“It’s okay to get scared, guys,” Robin said. “But as long as you do what’s right, even if it’s hard to do, you’ll be braver than any scary thing out there. Now, let’s try and get some sleep, huh?”

“Okay,” Twain said. “Hop, you can turn out the light now, if you want.”

“Will do,” Hop reached out and gave the lamp cord a firm tug, casting the room into darkness once more.

Together, the three siblings cuddled together under the blankets and fell asleep.

Not one of them had another nightmare that night.


End file.
